My Bucket List

Okay this isn’t quite a bucket list as I intend to stick around a little longer than 50 or at least I hope I will, but it is my birthday in a few days and it has got me thinking about the things I wanted to achieve over the last year and though I haven’t met all of my challenges I thought okay where do I want to be in the next few years. So as 50 is the next big milestone it gives me 9 years to achieve the following goals some will be far easier than others. UPDATE I decided to make this the full 100 bucket list and to actually work on it properly, those in larger print, in purple with links have been achieved 😀

1) Achieve a weight I am happy with and maintain it – boring I know but for someone who always used exercise to keep my weight under control my back problems have run riot with my body, I am slowly reclaiming it and have dropped to dress sizes this year but still have a way to go

2) Read 500 books from the 1001 list and hopefully I will still be blogging so I will have reviewed them as well

3) Publish the full trilogy – As you know I finished writing Queen of Ages though I have not heard anything back from the publishers, if I still have not heard anything as the new year approaches I shall re-edit and begin sending out the agents and publishers, the second part is at the research and notebook stage and once work on the ghost stories is finished I shall start drafting the story outline, if needs be I will self publish though I still long to see my book on the shelf in a book shop

4) Visit Egypt and see the pyramids – fairly self explanatory, I have long since been fascinated by ancient cultures and history

5) Run a 10k race for charity – this links to the first and would be a statement I have overcome my spinal problem, I used to think I would love to run a marathon but now I set my sights more realistically

6) Get my phoenix tattoo – I was going to do this before 40 but until I know they have finished cutting into my back I put it on hold but at least now I have some designs waiting

7) Visit Venice – my gran went before they cleaned up the canals and complained about the smell but am pretty sure I would be too distracted by the sights to notice a bit of a pong

8) See medieval jousting re-enactments – there are a few places here that do them but timing has been wrong so far but before part three of the trilogy I will see some can always count it as research

9) See my name in print – okay this is already in the pipeline but I still want to actually see it

10) Visit Stonehenge – again something I was supposed to do earlier this year but it got cancelled this is more of a spiritual pilgrimage than just historical so I would love to do it at a time entry right up to the stones is permitted

11) Attend a writing weekend – after reading Vikki’s experiences it is something I would love to do if I could persuade other half to let me escape and leave him at home with the monster

12) Visit Monet’s garden at Giverney – the ultimate preparation for creative purpose the grow a whole garden exactly how you want so you can paint it puts outlining a story to shame really

13) Catch up my TBR pile – no matter how many books I read it still seems to grow and with the introduction of a kindle it has got worse as there is now an invisible pile

14) Publish my ghost stories and make enough money to actually help little Charlie – a slight cheat as it is in the pipeline but still UPDATE since the original posting sadly Charlie lost his fight against cancer but the book will still be out in his honour and to hopefully make a little money towards helping his charity make things better for those who follow.

15) Create a piece of Artwork I would be happy to hang in my living room – I do have a couple of pics I have done on the wall next to my desk but nothing I would be proud to display for everyone to see I did have one once but no idea where it went lol

16) Move to a house big enough to have my own library and office – or at the very least the two combined all for me with a lock on the door so small child and dogs cannot get in when I am not looking

17) Meet some of my online friends in the flesh – I am already hoping to meet up with the wonderful Rhonda soon but there are a few others as well I would love to share a coffee with

18) Visit Bath – as a Jane Austen lover it is a must if I could time it for the festival all the better

19) Visit Chatsworth during the summer – am planning another christmas trip taking the monster this time but still want to see the house in all its glory

20) Go on a ghost hunt at Pendle Hill – I was supposed to be going this year but it has been postponed until next when hopefully I will be more up to the task of tramping round hills in the dark

21) Finish My degree – because of my spinal problems I never got my last year completed but even if I do it through OU I am determined I will

22) Learn to believe in my own abilities – far easier said than done

23) Learn a new language – at school I learnt French and a very little German but I would love to learn Italian or Spanish and be more fluent in French to the point were I could comfortably converse in it

24) Stop Smoking – terrible habit I know and when I think about logically how much it costs me I feel sick but am not quite ready yet

This is so much harder than I thought given my spinal problems limit the physical things like sky diving which I would love to have included

25) Visit the Edinburgh vaults – another haunted location I would love to explore

26) Visit more stately homes – I love the grandeur of these places and yes I could see myself living in one though I hate to think about the heating costs

You can catch up on the ones I want to visit and find links for those I have visited on Homes Of Interest

27) Go for a proper picnic – sounds silly I know but I bought the most amazing picnic basket (will post pictures at some point of it) and it has yet to be used partly thanks to the terrible summer but also the decisions to go places at short notice – Okay I did do this one but neglected to take photos of the actual picnic so I shall do it again next summer

28) Buy a new Bonsai tree and keep it alive – again sounds silly but the last one I had did really well until I had my son then I missed a couple of days watering and it just died on me and I think they are lovely

29) Meet one of my favourite authors – a have a few so I have different options but would really love to meet Anne Rice

30) Go to a discworld convention – Blame Miss Tribble for this one as she made me jealous after having such a good time there UPDATE obviously the passing of STP might make this one more difficult I guess time will tell

31) Visit Pompeii – The idea that this may be gone in a few decades partly because we uncovered it to learn from it stirs up all sorts of emotions but I would still like to see it while it is possible

32) Buy a couple of first editions of books which have meaning for me – I have my Crucible and am not even sure which other books I would really want but I will know if I ever come across them

33) Find a couple more oil paintings at second hand markets/charity shops – I love my oil paintings and would love more but they have to be the right ones that I will love forever

34) Find some inkwells – I have seen some I love on ebay but going for silly money would love to find one in a charity shop that I could fall in love with and afford

35) Have the big dark wood desk – to go with my dream office/library of course and display my inkwell on

36) Run a marathon – I know I said earlier that it will never happen but hell if I make it to running 10k then you never know

37) Visit the Shetland or Orkney Islands – now I know I hate the cold but I would love to see the wild unspoilt landscapes just once but preferably on a sunny day

38) Visit Ireland – it is part of my heritage and again in southern Ireland spectacular scenery

39) Write everyday – be it blogging, in a notebook, or on a WIP I want to ensure that everyday passes with some form of writing

40) Write one proper letter a month – while writing one recently I realised I had forgotten the joy of sending a letter through the post and the pleasure of anticipating the smile it would give the person receiving something other than a bill through the post

41) Read every day – if only a few pages and reading does seem to be the first thing I drop when busy with other things

42) Make the most of my son’s milestones – first day at junior school and first day at high-school will fall in these years and so many other firsts

43) Make a living from writing – oh to give up the day job well one can dream

44) Visit Haworth and wander the moors – not actually that far for me I went with school many moons ago but have never been back since

45) Write a poem on top of a mountain – or maybe with my back a big hill will have to suffice but as most of my poems have been written sat in woods or at a checkout a change of location would be inspiring

46) Have someone other than a friend ask me to sign a book I have written – hell I am a writer I gotta dream that someone will buy it and love it

47) Skyclad – dance naked under the light of the full moon now this isn’t likely ever to happen for practical reasons but would love to free the freedom that it represents

48) Learn the guitar – no chance at all totally unmusical but as I have one sat here I suppose I should give it a go

49) Stay true to myself – lots of people joke don’t forget us if you become famous I would hate to ever be the person who forgot those who supported them from the start famous or not

50) Go to one WWE live event – I recently got back into watching this and love it, think soap with muscles lol

51) Have a story published in Clarkesworld Magazine – I love this and am a patreon supporter would love to see one of my stories in there eventually

52) Win a Mash Competition or other writing contest – it is not about the money just want to be able to say I won.

53) Visit New York – hopefully this will be one of the stop offs on my US visit

54) Have a proper sightseeing tour round London and visit all the tourist places – London is somewhere I have either visited for a single purpose like the Doctor Who Festival or passed through would love to do it properly

55) Visit Cardiff and go to the Doctor Who experience – never been to Cardiff would love to see the Castle and other landmarks

56) See Duran Duran in concert a second time – yes I know I was lucky enough to see them once but a second time would be nice

57) Have a book top of a best seller list – it might never happen but hey you have to aim high

58) Have a book adapted for film or TV – Complete fantasy there but it is my dream list

59) See Kylie live in concert a second time – again have been lucky once but it was so good would love to see her again

60) Attend an author event as an author – I am going to one as a guest, well to the charity ball bit but would love to do the whole book signing bit

61) Meet my cyber-godson in the States – again this is on my list of things I am planning to do on my US visit in 2017

62) Fall in love with someone who sweeps me off my feet – well a girl can dream

63) Stand under a waterfall – once upon a time I would have said shower in a waterfall but the soap is bad for the environment and I am more considerate now I am older lol

64) Go to Australia and visit the area my Great great uncle lived in – I actually have an address though I would guess things have changed since he lived there

65) Visit Hobbiton – I would travel to New Zealand just to do that

66) Cage dive with a great white – maybe I should add another first

67) Learn to dive – I love water just not sure about the thing on my face but worth it if it means I can do 66

68) Go on a cruise – I quite like the idea of a cruise round the Caribbean so I can see as many islands as possible

69) See the Northern lights – a trip to Iceland may be the best way to achieve this or possibly a cruise in that area

70) Visit Stratford and see a play at the RSC – I only had a quick visit previously would love a proper trip there

71) See a show in the West End – I would ideally like to see something like the Mousetrap or a Woman in Black

72) See Madonna live – I know a few people who have seen her and they have said she was amazing

73) See the Grand Canyon – one place I know I won’t have time for on my first US trip

74) Visit Niagara Falls – not the waterfall to stand under but certainly one to see

75) See a play at the Globe theatre – just one of those things any book lover has to do

76) Go on a safari – no hunting the only shot I want is the perfect one through the camera lens

77) Be sat on a bus and see someone reading my book – or a train or plane in fact they can be sat reading it anywhere

78) Get a photo with the Doctor – couldn’t do it at this years festival as it sold out too quickly

79) Attend the London Book Fayre – one of those places I feel as a writer I should go at least once

80) Attend a Literary festival event as a guest – we have one in Huddersfield so no excuse for not going to at least one event at some point lol

81) Attend a Literary festival event as an author – again one can dream

82) Climb up a volcano – if you read A -Z 2015 you know all about this one

83) See Aerosmith live – just because, Steven Tyler, what more can I say

84) Get a signed photos of the cast members from Doctor who that have made an impact on me – think Leela (Louise Jamieson), River (Alex Kingston)

85) Go to Whitby for a goth weekend – I would love to do this in full steampunk outfit

86) Throw a Labyrinth style Masquarade ball – I am going to one (a ball) but I would love to do the whole magical outlandish bit

87) Have someone famous read one of my books and love it – not really bothered how famous, a youtube star would do but would just love to hear some that is looked up to comment on my work

88) Have at least one of my social media verified – again this is more about recognition formally as an author than just pride lol

89) Need to hire an accountant – this ties into the making a living from writing and being able to give up the day job, it would mean that Iwas making enough to not only do that be be comfortably off to the point where the taxes were too complicated for me to sort (not hard as I do words not numbers)

90) Fly somewhere first/business class – I would love to find out just how the other half travel but while travelling with kids not likely to happen

91) Spend a week on the Isle of Wight and take the monster to all the places I visited as a child – when I took him before we only visited for a couple of days and not only was he too little to take much in but also my gran was getting more frail and I wanted to spend the time with her

92) Go to Euro Disney – either with or without the kids though pretty sure tantrums would ensue if I went without them

93) Go to Harry Potter World – the next best thing to actually going to Hogwarts

94) Go to Disney World in Orlando – same as Euro Disney

95) Swim with dolphins – I thought I had included this already but it seems not

96) Go Whale watching – I know there is debate about whether this is a negative thing for the whales but I would settle for seeing them in the distance

97) Go out on a boat to watch seals – this is actually do-able, maybe a trip to Scarborough next summer

98) Spend a week away from modern life – yup strange for me to say this one but would love to spend a week away at a cabin in the woods or mountains but maybe would settle for still having central heating and hot water on tap!

99) Go to a spa for the weekend – would love a weekend of treatments, massages and being pampered

100) Live the best life I can – nothing more to say

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8 comments on “My Bucket List”

This is a wonderful list, Paula! Man, number 1 I can totally, totally relate to… I think if you’re not happy with that part of your life, it can make so many other parts of life miserable at times. So I wish us both (not luck) determination and success in this shared venture.

There are many things I can relate to on the list. I love letter writing – will pm you my address as I would truly appreciate a random letter as previously offered and would definitely reciprocate (although my hand writing will be nowhere near as stylish/pretty/neat as yours!). I taught myself to play the guitar (with a few basic lessons from a friend) about five years ago. I sucked, totally. Now I can play songs and sing and do both at the same time. Although I do neither of these things particularly well, I enjoy it and it’s given me a sense of achievement. I recommend that you use ultimateguitar.com for chords and that you use youtube to look for video clips of people playing songs you like or teaching you for free. Good luck with the language as well. Would love to be able to speak Italian. Visited Pompeii in the late 90s, was pretty fantastic. Good luck fulfilling these ventures, sound fab! 🙂

I like your list. I have accumulated a few more years than you and still need to do some of the things you list. You name the following places you would like to visit: Venice, Stonehenge, Giverny, Bath, Pompeii, Haworth. I love places associated with books or authors I love and respect. All were wonderful, but Haworth was perhaps the best of all. We walked up past the house and onto the moors.

I have to say this…. with the wealth that’s in your list, what struck me is the title 50 before 50… you’re not 50 yet! Why am I always the oldest!!

If you succeed in quitting the cigarette habit… it’s bad for you and that’s all it is, no redeeming qualities in it like hot wine or whiskey, please shoot that karma across the way and into my daughter…

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